Posted on 01/01/2022 1:47:20 PM PST by bitt
some questions you ask because you want the right answer. Others are valuable because no answer is right; the payoff comes from the range of attempts. Seven years ago, The Atlantic surveyed a group of eminent historians to create a ranked list of the 100 people who had done the most to shape the character of modern America. The panelists agreed easily on the top few names—Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, in that order—but then began diverging in intriguing ways that reflected not simply their own values but also the varied avenues toward influence in our country. Lewis and Clark, or Henry Ford? Thomas Edison, or Martin Luther King? The result was of course not scientific. But the exercise of asking, comparing, and choosing helped us understand more about what these historical figures had done and about the areas in which American society had proved most and least open to the changes wrought by talented, determined men and women.
Now we turn to technology. The Atlantic recently assembled a panel of 12 scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers, historians of technology, and others to assess the innovations that have done the most to shape the nature of modern life. The main rule for this exercise was that the innovations should have come after widespread use of the wheel began, perhaps 6,000 years ago. That ruled out fire, which our forebears began to employ several hundred thousand years earlier. We asked each panelist to make 25 selections and to rank them, despite the impossibility of fairly comparing, say, the atomic bomb and the plow. (As it happens, both of these made it to our final list: the discovery and application of nuclear fission, which led to both the atomic bomb and nuclear-power plants, was No. 21 of the top 50, ahead of the moldboard plow,
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
I just installed a new Eljer crapper today.
Despite the govt mandated 1.6 gals/flush it seems to work pretty well.
Fine Mexican craftsmanship.
That was # 20. A real disaster for humanity.
Thanks for that info about “The Count of Monte Cristo”! I remembered somewhere that there was a financial collapse from the Semaphore system. I thought it might have been simple arbitrage from the speed of the information transmission, but I totally forgot about that plot in the book!
I’m not sure I read the unabridged Penguin version — I have an old hardcover copy I bought decades ago. It is a great tale!
Well not the compass, paper, or gunpowder...
True re birth control pill.
However those of us who resist it (I don’t oppose all contraception but believe that to be abortifacient and also bad for women hormonally) should thrive.
“That was # 20. A real disaster for humanity.”
Sorry, I missed it when I was scanning the list.
I protest, they omitted Cialis and Viagra.
If you ever doubt living in today’s world, remind yourself that toilet paper advertisers in the late 1800s promoted their TP as having “no splinters”.
Nevertheless, Thomas Crapper is high among the greatest inventors in history.
The Atlantic?
May as well get my quantum physics articles there too.
Not.
J M Browning. 1911. Government Model.
This is the first of these I’ve seen that actually had cement on it!
This is, of course, impossible to do. Every invention, or recognition, is based not upon want but perceived need.
And if you put such a diverse crowd of “experts” into a room, scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers, historians of technology, and others to assess the innovations, who is going to agree? Besides, the number one process in the invention of most products is accident. Same with the poll if anything matches.
Another wasted poll of worthless information from a company that has supported liberal causes and funded liberals for many years.
wy69
Paper in the second century? Say what? Have they not heard of papyrus? Papyrus was in use since the 14th century BC.
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